Advice regarding reduced sperm please...

[Flossy13]

After a bit of advice regarding reduced sperm please...

I’ll start with a brief overview of our history.

My partner and I struggled to conceive for 2 years before we had a successful pregnancy. We have not used contraception at all since having our first child (which was nearly 6 years ago). We had the attitude of ‘if it is going to happen it will happen’. We didn’t want to stress of ‘trying’ and heartbreak every month so we just wanted to relax about it all. A couple of years ago I started getting really down because although we were not officially ‘trying’ we were most definitely ‘trying’. I had a few health issues and have recently had 2 lots of surgery resulting in my ovary and fallopian tube being removed. I have been under a fertility and gynae consultant for over a year now. She is now focusing on my partner so sent him off for a semen analysis test a few weeks ago. We received a letter today stating his results showed a very reduced number of sperm in the sample produced. He has to go for further tests and she circled the ‘urgent’ referral and wrote ‘VERY’ next to it. This is all very new to me and I don’t like googling which is why I have come here as if like to speak to people who have been or are current in the same situation.

What does this mean?

Because his sample had very reduced sperm, does this mean it is like that every time or could it just be unfortunate that it happened to be that one time?

If we decided to take the IVF route, would it even be a possibility with reduced sperm?

We are not seeing my consultant until July so I know I can ask all my questions then but I just feel that’s too far away.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

[Hidden]

Hi,

My partner and I have a little girl who took us well over 2 years to conceive, we too tried to stay calm and didn’t have any investigations first time round despite it taking so long! We are now 3 years into trying for a second child and decided to seek advice. My partner has a very low sperm count being the only thing we have identified as a problem. It came as a real shock to us as it wasn’t something we had even considered. He has a count of 1-2 million per ml, low is generally less than 15-20 million per ml so his is severely low. We have gone ahead and had ICSI which is usually recommended with low sperm counts. The count isn’t the only thing they look at, they will look at how well they swim, how many are of normal shape etc. My partners are ok there just aren’t many of them. I think 3 samples over a few weeks/months are recommended to check it’s a one off or the norm. We were recommended supplements including zinc and selenium but I can’t say for sure they have helped. Good luck, I hope you get some answers soon xx

[Fingerscrossed34]

Hi, our only issue is with sperm count and motility so I have done a lot of research. These things can be a one off due to him recently having a virus or something so they recommend doing a second test a month or so later to check. They then did a check on my partners hormone levels to make sure there was no obvious cause and I know some people get a physical examination.

There isn’t enough research into male infertility unfortunately. Some suggest male conception vitamins may help, diet and gentle exercise, maintaining a healthy BmI and not letting his bits get too warm. It is something that can change over time and as men aren’t particularly forthcoming about the issue there isn’t a lot of research or understanding about why it happens or how to fix it or how it may change over time etc. Our DR was clear with a count of 2.1 million/ml that natural conception would be unlikely but not impossible he also had 25% motility which is on the low side. I think the thing to take from that is “low” could be very low like my husband or just a bit on the low side and so far apparently there isn’t a lot of evidence to show how much sperm count actually impacts conception. Because as they say it only takes one to make a baby.

We are on the waiting list for IVF and what they do for low sperm counts is basically the exact same except it includes ICSI which means they inject the sperm into the egg rather than mixing them together and letting them fertilise themselves. I’m sure your Dr will have lots more information for you when you get to the stage of discussing it further. I think googling is fine if you stick to the NHS websites about male fertility and ICSI.

Wishing you lots of luck.

[Fingerscrossed34 in reply to Fingerscrossed34]

It could be worth phoning the clinic you went to and asking to speak to a nurse in the meantime while you are waiting for your appointment. I didn’t know that was an option till this week and it’s nice to know you can speak to a professional hopefully!

[Flossy13]

Thank you both. I feel both comments have helped. My partner has had 10 tubes of blood taken for testing. Some are being sent away to a different county and they can months to come back. He hasn’t been offered another semen analysis though.

I have no idea exactly what the results were so that’s interesting. 1 million per ml seems like a lot and it’s shocking to think that is considered severely low. I’m intrigued now as to what my partners was/is.

I may phone my consultants secretary and find out more. 🙂